Premchand's stories presented in dramatised reading format

Mumbai : The audience in the Maximum City had first hand experience of reliving the tales of Munshi Premchand on the occasion of his 138th birth anniversary as stories of the legendary writer were presented in a dramatised reading format here.

Titled "Jashn-e-Premchand", the event was organised by Katha Kathan, a Mumbai-based organisation that has been working on the revival of Indian languages through the art of storytelling. The performances unfolded between July 26 and culminated on Tuesday, Premchand's birthday.

The stories were presented in three languages: Awadhi, Urdu and Hindustani.

The organisers said in a statement that the performances were held at different venues across Mumbai, with each venue having a mix of unique stories.

What also made the programme unique, according to the organisers, was the fact that this was the first time that Mumbai heard performances in Awadhi -- one of the sweetest dialects of Hindi from Lucknow.

The repertoire of stories being presented included: "Panch Parmeshwar", "Boodhi Kaaki", "Do Bail", "Shuddhi", "Qatil Ki Maa", and "Bhoot".

The finale of Jashn-e-Premchand was attended by versatile actor Naseeruddin Shah.